Why Is Everyone Freaking Out About Uber’s Controversial Logo Change?

Of all the things to be mad at Uber about (like the time a woman was charged $12,000 for a ride or the time someone went bankrupt due to surge pricing or the time–today–when they promised puppies and didn’t deliver to my house), you wouldn’t think it was their new logo that would get people so ready to knock things over and throw themselves off of tall buildings. But, for some reason, people who use the app and follow the company on Twitter are very, very unhappy that the ride-sharing company changed its brand’s look without consulting them.

In case you’re not familiar with Uber’s old logo–I couldn’t think what it looked like off the top of my head–it was a bent grey U on a black background. Now it looks like some kind of vague ocean thing that’s confusing at most. What do the depths below have to do with sharing a ride downtown? Why must change be so hard?

Here’s the logo–technically just the app icon– looking like a fluffy pillow lost in a sea of endless water, without any way to tell if there’s even a U in there:

https://twitter.com/SamuelGibbs/status/694805029333655552

And here’s just a sampling of negative reactions people have had to the logo:

https://twitter.com/joshuatopolsky/status/694675595901407232

https://twitter.com/rosiesparty/status/694991859194687488

https://twitter.com/SophieCurthoys_/status/694821439694868481

https://twitter.com/markbiegel/status/694670326366535681

Wut?

These people know what the logo means because they’ve discovered the inspiration:

But what’s most worrying is how seriously Uber is taking its new logo:

https://twitter.com/ow/status/694978616401207296

No cupcakes? I guess I’ve got to start using Lyft instead.

For the record, Uber’s got an explanation for what’s going on. Whether anyone’s buying it is another question.

https://twitter.com/Uber/status/694603879372066816